Shin may be given special award

LONDON – The South Korean fencer who staged a tearful hour-long sit-in protest over judging is in line for a special sportsmanship award, her country’s top Olympic official said Tuesday.

Park Yong Sung, president of South Korea’s National Olympic Committee, said the International Fencing Federation (FIE) made the offer after admitting a time-keeping problem in the controversy involving Shin A Lam.

In an amazing scene Shin, sobbing and shaking her head, refused to leave the piste for more than an hour after Monday’s epee semifinal defeat to Germany’s Britta Heidemann.

Park said the FIE had conceded their official clock may have played a role in stoking the row because it is not accurate to fractions of a second, as in some other sports.